Out of the blogging loop

Wow! I've been out of the blogging loop for some time now...since I started my new J-O-B in April. Work has really been working me. I admire those who still have the energy to blog after work because I know I don't have any energy when I come home. I have today off since I worked this pass wknd so I thought I pay a visit to the blogging world. I've been learning lots on the job and my caseload has been getting "bigger." Bigger in number and size wise of patients. It's been hard on me physically despite using proper body mechanics. Please ppl, eat healthy!! I've been on the Skilled Nursing Facility unit of the hospital since I've started and occasionally on the ortho floor. SNF is what I've been trying to steer clear of and I guess it's the universe's way of saying hey, you need to deal with what you don't want to deal with. Face it head on and come through it with a clearer picture. Although the SNF unit has been challenging, it's been also very rewarding. The most challenging part has been hearing patients say that they're tired of all of this and just want to die. The challenge is not in redirecting them but for me not to take on their "stuff." Well, that's all for now and I hope I get to visit back soon. I miss having time and energy to read other's blogs. Until next time...

New Hire Process

So today's process included filling out a stack of paperwork from A-Z. I've forgotten how much paperwork goes into this process. There were a group of 5 today for the new hire process and 2 (moi included) of us were for the OTR positions. The others were there for nursing, tech, and an administration position. After filling out all the different agreement and acknowledgment forms, etc., etc...oh yes and the direct deposit form (wahoooo)... I waited until it was my turn to turn them in and talk to the HR lady. I told her that we killed a lot of trees today. She replied something on the lines of you would think most of these things would be digital with the technology these days. I wonder if i'll still be alive when everything is digital. The earth would be so much happier if we'd stop killing all these trees. I've noticed that more and more people are "going green." Keep going green y'all! haha...ok, i'm off the topic.

After getting writer's cramp form filling out all those forms (ok, i'm exaggerating here but yeah go with it) I headed down to occupational health to get my blood drawn, TB test, give the urine sample of course (I really hate peeing in a cup), and some other test (fit test?) where they put a clear hood on you and spray saccharine in the hole to see if you taste it which you're suppose to then they spray again but this time you have a mask on and see if you taste it which you're not suppose to. The nurse told me that the particles of the saccharine are the same size as the TB so they wanted to make sure that the mask is the adequate size and that it would help protect you if you do come across a patient with TB. Well, that's my understanding of the test from what she explained to me.

Well folks, i'm another step closer to the "real world." Orientation begins next Monday!

Until next time...

The job hunt is over!

Wheeeeeew! The job hunt is officially over. I will be in the hospital setting and get to experience the different areas (rehab, acute, NICU, etc.). Finding a place of employment took me longer and it was harder than I expected. Some ppl may call me picky but I'm ok with that bc it's true...after all, it is the start of my career. I was on a mission to find a place that I feel I can mesh well with the people, a family-like atmosphere. I finally found a place that feels right for me. An advice that a lot of ppl told me was not to take the first job offer. Although an exhausting process, I'm glad I took the advice and went on interviews after interviews to see what's out there. Allow yourself some "shopping" time.

How I got my name out there? Well, I first posted my resume on Monster's and then I went to individual hospital or clinic websites and applied online. I should have done it vice versa (applied on individual sites then if needed post on Monster's).

Some of the key factors I kept in mind or asked about was if mentoring was available (i.e. assisting another OT in evals or co-treating for a couple of week or so), does the environment feel right (is it a good fit), opportunity to float around and soak up the knowledge in different areas or will I be stuck in one area of the hospital, and CEU allowance. I had more questions to ask in the interviews but those are the main ones I can think of right now. Oh yeah, last but not least "What separates you from your competitors?"

Also, BE YOURSELF!

Caregiver perspective

Something I meant to post during my FW level 2 but forgot about: There were several occassions that I saw this caregiver constantly yelling at his son to pick up his left leg. With every step he took, his father kept yelling lift up your darn left leg as he sorta pushed him along, stop dragging it, #$%@*! I felt extremely bad for him. What I should have done was ask the therapist if she had ever talk to the caregiver about caregiver burden and destressing techniques or something to that effect instead of only encouraging the patient along. I didn't understand why the caregiver could be so cruel.

Days go by, FW is almost over but the stress increases because I must perform perfectly, my mom's health was declining which meant the more demands on me to take care of her, deadlines for graduation and application for NBCOT, and the pile gets higher. I found myself stressed out and snapping at my mom. "Stop compensating and limping, bend your knee, you'll mess up your hips if you do that!" I realized that I was doing the same thing the other caregiver was doing, snapping! So I stepped back and checked in with myself on why I was acting the way I was. It was not only the stress but also the fear of losing my mom because her health was just declining. I was acting out of anger. I wasn't angry at her but at the disease...the osteoarthritis, glaucoma, cataracts, etc. I calmed myself down but still full of emotions and explained to my mom that when I snap, it's not because i'm mad at her but mad at the disease, that I didn't want to see her in such pain...i didn't want her to hurt anymore. Ever since then, I haven't snapped because I've learned to check in with myself when I feel that snappiness coming up, take my deep breaths, and go to my calm place.

I'm happy to say that my mom is doing better now too.

I PASSED the OT board exam!

Well, I found out yesterday that I passed. Wahoooooooo! The way I prepared for it did work after all but with lots of prayers too. Practice, practice, and practice. Actually, find out which way of studying is best for you and find out early enough so you have adequate time to prepare. Don't forget try to get a good night's rest too. Oh, this might sound silly to some but I also practiced two days in a row before exam day on what I ate and the time I ate because you don't want to be too full or get hungry during the test.

The Big Day

Ok, so I took the board exam today and gosh....what can I tell you...my back ached and my butt went numb. Sitting there for four hours with the time ticking down in front of my face was hard. My colleague said that it's more of an endurance test and I agree with him. For a profession that encourages their patients to take breaks and stretch, the board exam sure does not support that for their soon to be OTs. Sure, they say you can take a break but the time is still ticking away. To go to the restroom or to your locker, you have to sign out, sign back in, provide your 2 forms of identification, and get finger printed again...restroom break anyone? I don't think so. What I recommend is building up the endurance to sit without real breaks for 4 hours by test time. (Of course that is in my opinion...i'm not setting long term goals for you or anything.) I only took several seconds after each hour to stretch.

A lot of people have asked me how I prepared for it and I'll let you know if it worked once I get the results on Friday. I used the following books:
1. Occupational Therapy Examination Review Guide (3rd ed.), by Caryn Johnson
2. OTR Study Guide and Study Guide Supplement, by NBCOT
3. National Occupational Therapy Certification Exam Review and Study Guide, by Rita Cottrell & the Course Manual (this is only provided at the review course)

The Cottrell questions are much harder so don't get discouraged when you score yourself on these. I wish I didn't score myself (it was depressing) on these but just used them to go over rationales. The questions from the study guide from NBCOT and the Johnson book will give you a better idea of how the exam questions are worded.

I took the review course and followed the manual, read the chapters in the Cottrell book (cover to cover...not), ok so I skimmed it cover to cover, and took a week to practice questions. I wish I spent more time studying by practicing the questions and building up my endurance with more test taking simulations rather than reading the Cottrell. I learned more from reading the rationale for the answers than reading the chapters. I started out doing 10 questions in a row at 1 minute each then reviewing the rationale for the answers. Next 20 questions in a row, then 50, and building up to 200 in one sitting. After that, I only did one simulation of 200 question in one sitting without breaks. That was not enough. Do at least 2 simulations. I took the exam 2 months after graduation due to the Christmas holidays and training sessions I went to. So basically, I gave myself some breathing room by scheduling it a little later than most of my classmates but the whole studying process probably took about a month if I subtract my goof off time. Good luck to all who are going to take the board exam! Well, you won't need luck if you prepare really well.

Random Post

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.



By Oriah

© Mountaindreaming, from the book The Invitation published by
HarperSanFrancisco, 1999 All rights reserved

Inspirational Story from FOX Sports on MSN

D-I player without right hand 'pretty inspirational'
by Jeff Goodman
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com. He can be reached at GoodmanonFOX@aol.com.

CITY, Utah - It was a conversation with which Dax Crum was all too familiar.

Southern Utah University coach Roger Reid had called Crum into his office. And Crum knew exactly what was coming.
"I told him he could come out for the team, but the chances of playing were very, very slim," Reid said. "In my mind, I didn't think there was any chance he'd ever play. No way."

However, a half season into Reid's tenure at the school, Crum, who was born without a right hand, has forced his coach into playing him significant minutes.

The 6-foot-2 senior guard logged a career-high 16 minutes, made a 3-pointer and slowed down Missouri-Kansas City's leading scorer, Dane Brumagin, for much of the second half in a 63-60 loss earlier in the month.

"I've coached this game for a long time and they ought to build a monument of him," Reid said. "Dax is all about defying the odds and playing for the right reasons."

Crum was born without nearly his entire right hand. Just a tiny finger sticks out of his nub and is barely noticeable. Crum's parents were given the option of transplanting a toe to act as another finger, but they declined due to concerns with post-surgical rejection.

It's crazy, but many opposing players, coaches and fans are often shocked when told of Crum's handicap after watching him play or practice. UMKC sports information director James Allen was completely unaware throughout the entire game. Southern Utah assistant Ron Carling's wife had no idea after watching Crum play for nearly three weeks.

"Honestly, you can't even really tell he has a disability," said Brumagin, who is averaging 18.6 points per game. "You've got to treat him like everyone else. He's playing Division I basketball and he's a good player. He was right up there with anyone else who has guarded me this year, but he's pretty inspirational. It's amazing."

Crum, 23, was nudged into playing sports by his father, Richard, a former star at Kirtland Central in New Mexico.

"Honestly, when Dax was born, I was angry with God," Richard Crum said. "How can you send me a one-handed boy when you know my sons are going to be athletes?

"But he's taught me that you can do anything," he said. "He's changed my life in so many ways."

Richard and Valerie, who died of cancer a little more than three years ago, decided to go with shoelaces instead of taking the easy way out and buying Velcro sneakers for their son. Four-year-old Dax wasn't allowed to go to school until he was able to tie them on his own.

Once Dax figured it out, his two grandfathers were called into the room.

"Dax sat down in the middle of the floor and at the end, two old grandfathers had tears streaming down their eyes," Richard Crum said. "One of them, a World War II Navy veteran, said, 'You're my hero.'"

Not everyone was as supportive. Richard remembers one woman asking him to take his son away because Dax was scaring her daughter. Another wanted him to have Dax put his arm in his pocket. Little boys stared. Little girls squealed.

Richard and Valerie resisted hiding his handicap.

"It was an awkward situation," Richard said. "But for me to do it would have sent the wrong message."

Crum persevered, especially with his passion on the basketball court, where he earned all-star honors at BYU's camp when he was 12. However, the coach the following year hardly played Crum.

"They treated me like I was 3 years old," Crum said.

His father made certain that wasn't going to happen again. He took a teaching position at Kirtland Central and was also an assistant on the basketball team. When Dax wasn't in the high-school gym with his father, the two of them were in the nearby church working on his game.

Crum became a first-team all-state player at Kirtland Central, winning three state titles, and also starred in soccer, baseball and track. After either the second or third state crown, father and son just smirked at each other when the public address announcer asked everyone to give Crum a hand.

"The irony of it was huge," Richard Crum said. "I just nodded at Dax and he winked back at me."

Despite his success on the hardwood, there were no Division I suitors coming out of high school. He played two sports at Arizona Western Junior College while on a soccer scholarship.

Crum started the second half of his sophomore season for an Arizona Western team that was ranked No. 1 in the country and finished 31-3.

"When I first got there, it was 'good for him,'" Crum said. "Then I started taking some of their playing time and some of them weren't so happy. Nobody likes being beaten by the one-handed kid.

"There were some guys who loved me and others didn't think I deserved to be on the court," he said. "I heard guys saying, 'How good can you be? Dax took your spot.' I just let it go. I just go out and play."

After his two-year stint at Arizona Western, Crum turned down a D-I soccer scholarship at Dayton for an opportunity to play basketball as a walk-on at Southern Utah.

"I wanted to be a Division I basketball player," Crum said. "I wanted to do something that no one has done."

Crum played sparingly two seasons ago under former coach Bill Evans. He redshirted last season and wound up on the football team — as a kicker/punter who also played some cornerback.

Shortly after Reid, who spent seven seasons as the head coach at BYU from 1989-97, took the reigns, Crum decided he wanted to give it another try in his final season of eligibility.

That's when Reid did everything in his power to shoot down the idea.

"I don't blame him. Every coach I've ever had worries about the same thing," Crum said. "If I put him on the floor, are they going to take advantage of him? I wonder if I was coaching me, would I put myself in the game?"

Then Reid watched Crum outwork all of his teammates in practice.

It's a remarkable sight, how much passion and energy he displays when he's on the court. His nickname at Arizona Western was "The Pest." At Southern Utah, they've dubbed him the "Dax-inator" because of his unwavering defensive prowess.

"It's a good thing now," said Southern Utah assistant Austin Ainge, who played against Crum when he was a player at BYU. "I like it as a coach, but I hated it when he was guarding me.

"The amazing thing is he can still go right," said Ainge. "He finds a way. He's clever."

In addition to his pestering defense, Crum is somehow able to make shots with consistency. He rests the ball on his nub, uses his left hand to shoot and is a legitimate 3-point threat with a quick release. He rarely drops a pass and his teammates are unable to take the ball away from him in practice despite only having one hand to dribble the ball.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't know he had one hand for the first three days," said Southern Utah senior forward Tate Sorenson. "He handles himself pretty good and it's not just a charity case. He can play."

"He's the best perimeter defender we have," Carling said.

Crum is also extremely open and light-hearted. One time prior to a soccer game, he walked out for rock-paper-scissors, which would determine what team started the game with the ball. When both players threw out their hands, Crum tossed out his right hand and chuckled.

At times when he's dribbling the ball up the court, he'll hold up his hand with the one finger, smile and yell "Four" to call a play. Crum still gets a kick out of opposing players' reactions in the postgame handshake line.

"It's funny," Crum said.

"He's the first one to make a joke about it," Sorenson said.

The letters have come in from young children and adults. One man lost his arm in a farm accident and wanted to know how Crum does everything. Others want to know how he cuts steak or ties his shoes.

"It just takes me a little time to figure it out my way," Crum said.

Crum is married, has a 3.7 GPA and is working on his MBA. The plan is for him to go into the financial world for a while — at least long enough to support wife Ashley's medical schools bills — before he goes into coaching.

Crum, who worked three jobs until he was given a scholarship by Reid for the second semester, didn't get off the bench in eight of the team's first 13 games.

"The past three years have been rough," Crum said. "I haven't really played. I'll go into a game for one or two minutes, have a turnover and say, "Why am I doing this?'"

Crum knows the answer.

"You work for a couple years just to get a chance," Crum said. "Once you get a chance, it's like, 'Wow.' Just those 16 minutes against UMKC were worth it all to me. That's how much fun it is."

This story was from FOX Sports on MSN. Go to the website to see a clip of Dax in action: http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/7716376?MSNHPHCP>1=10838

Review Course

So our trip to Dallas for the review course was quite an adventure. We partied all night long....not....we actually studied! Good thing Tika B had her laptop bc if not we wouldn't have been able to check our email to find out that the class was moved off campus to SOKOL hall (a little gymnasium with a little cafeteria attached to it). Ummm yeah, we had class in the little cafeteria. They turned on several of the stove tops (burners) to warm up the room. Typical, that's TWU for you...always testing our ability to adapt to last minute changes. We arrived a little before 8AM to assure ourselves of good front row seats, haha...instead we arrived to push tables and chairs together into the tight spaces. Ok, so let's look on the bright side, at least we had a roof over our heads. Overall the IER review course was very helpful, great strategies and tips. It was worth the money but honestly, we thought it should have been incorporated into our studies in school.

Brief picture of My’s journey through FW

Ok as promised to the MOT IIIs...here it is. New graduates, if you want to share your experience with them like they requested please email me and i'll post.

Chapter 1 (yes this is a short novel) haha:
My first FW site was at Houston Work and Fitness Impact. I don’t think this facility is accepting any more students due to the low case load but I’ll share with you my experience just in case you’re thinking about working at a worker’s comp facility. This facility was well equipped with weight machines and work simulation equipment for truck drivers, landscapers, etc. The most difficult part about this rotation was saying good bye to my patients. I know it sounds cheesy but I’m being honest. Those who were in the work hardening and work conditioning program were there for 8 hours a day so we built a very strong bond. Before this rotation, I thought to myself what do you do that would take up 8 hours?! I’ve learned now that 8 hours is not enough time to fit everything…stretches, strengthening, conditioning, and education classes on body mechanics or back care and work simulation activities. 8 hours is not enough time?! I know you’re thinking I’m crazy…trust me it’s not enough some times. Documentation was pretty hard at first, my longest FCE report was 14 pages. Although my caseload was not great in quantity, I definitely had quality patients. Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE) probably took us longer (5 hrs and that’s not including writing the report) than other facilities being that we did everything manually (no fancy machines to spit out the numbers). After my third week, I was given a huge responsibility and worked mostly from 10-12 hrs/day because of early patients and one late patient. At first I thought the responsibility was too much, that I shouldn’t have been given that responsibility being that I was a student, felt like I was being taken advantage of but I eventually got over it, looked at it in a positive light that my CI fully trusted me and believed in me. At the end of FW, she told me that she had never given anybody that responsibility except for me.

Pros: You really work with the person as a whole (this should be the case everywhere you go but it’s not in reality).
Cons: You don’t get to work with a variety of diagnoses. You have to deal with insurance companies not wanting to approve what the doctor recommends. Dr. would recommend 4 wks, the insurance approves 2 wks.

Helpful hint: Of course, know your MMT & ROM (of the whole body….not just upper extremities). Go through and do the exercises in the documentation manual for writing SOAP notes. Even though every facility is different in their ways of documenting, those exercises will give you the basics that will help you on FW. Documentation is important any where you go but some places require much more detailed notes than others.

Chapter 2: ok….i’ll make it shorter
Neurodevelopmental Therapy Services (NTS) - Northwest location
My second rotation was a blast. The staff was wonderful and I learned so much from everyone that my head felt like it was about to explode…seriously. My CI was great…very knowledgeable and constantly teaching me tricks of the trade. Of course there are ups and downs as with everything. One of the hardest things for me was learning how to handle behavioral issues. There were many days that I came home completely exhausted mentally and physically but it was well worth it when I saw my kids reach their goals. My CI was also the clinical director there and of course there are pros and cons to this. Cons are she was very busy which made her less available lower caseload as compared to a “regular” CI. Pros was that since her caseload is less due the administrative work she also has to perform, it gave me time to work with other therapists (OT, PT, Speech).

Pros to this specific facility: Well equipped with various swings, etc and I had an upperclassman there that took me under her wings. Thank you Kristen! They treated me as part of their family and was invited to their big Christmas party.
Cons: Sometimes the kid’s behavioral issues got in the way of their learning process which was difficult for “true” OT to take place. 9-6:30 days were hard. It's ok at first but becomes draining (that was partly my fault cuz i worked full days on Friday even though i wasn't suppose to). So...don't burn yourself out.

Tips: If you’re going into peds, be sure to have some tools on how to handle kids with behavioral issues by googling or just ask someone who has been working in pediatrics and ask them to share some tools with you. Suggested readings, “The Out of Sync Child,” stock up on different books about activities, read and practice The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP).

If you want to know the specifics, please don’t hesitate to email me @ mynguyen1@gmail.com.

BONUS CLIP: Enjoy graduation, be in the moment and soak in your great accomplishment. My mistake was rushing through it at the end to find my family so they wouldn’t have to wait for me. I’m glad I was able to get the class picture together before rushing off though. Remember, this is YOUR moment so take time to snap pictures with your classmates, professors, etc. Your family has waited this long…I don’t think they’ll mind waiting a few extra minutes.

OT Blogs

How's the studying going y'all? I wish i can say i'm studying hard but sad to say that i'm hardly studying. I've been sick with this flu like crap since new year's day so anything i study just goes straight through my pounding headache. So instead of studying i've been reading OT blogs which oldy enough makes me feel better. The first real OT blog i encountered other than our underclassman's blog (http://sota-houston.blogspot.com/) was Karen's at http://otstudents.blogspot.com/. Her blog has a lot of info and links that are helpful and interesting. There's several sites that talk about using blogs as a marketing tool for OTs and i must say that it's an awesome idea. Since graduation (outside of the classroom where we all know what OT is), i've been facing a lot of "so what is OT?" In my head i'm thinking man....what's not OT?!! Well, i just wanted to encourage y'all to visit these sites...just google OT blogs.